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Quick Hits Audio: DIY Artificial Pancreas

A Type 1 diabetes patient took matters into her own hands by creating an artificial pancreas system and starting a DIY movement.

Dana Lewis with her DIY APS / Image: GeekWire
Dana Lewis with her DIY APS / Image: GeekWire

A recent GeekWire article highlighted Dana Lewis, founder of the Open Source Artificial Pancreas System (APS). Dana was using a continuous glucose monitor to track her blood sugar levels. When her levels deviated too far in either direction, an alarm would sound letting her know to use her insulin pump. But Dana was a power sleeper and slept through the device’s alarms putting her at risk of falling into a coma or dying in the middle of the night.

So, with some C++ and Fortran 90 coding knowledge from a college course, she created her own APS to do the work for her. Her DIY pancreas movement has helped hundreds of Type 1 diabetes patients to ease the burden of an inconvenient condition. You can hear the full 30-minute Health Tech podcast interview with Dana here.